Machine gun



Sept. l..1925f 1,551,809. w. w. DODGE, JR

MACHINE GUN Filed Dec. 10. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept; 1, 1925.-

. 1,551,809 w. w. DODGE, JR

MACHINE GUN,

Filed Dec. 10. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Slll 10% M/ 3% WW Sept. 1,1925. I

' W. W. DODGE, JR

MACHINE GU'N Filed Dec. 10. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 P at ent ed Sept- 1,1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. DODGE, JR., ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

MACHIN E GUN.

Application filed name. 10, 1923. Serial m. 679,747.

4 'To all whom it may concern:

v coil checks i -Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. DODGE, Jr., a citizenof'the. UnitedStates, residing at Asheville, in the county of Buncombeand State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machine G ns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machine guns, and particularly to such gunswhen mounted in rotatable gangs to turn on an axis approximatelyparallel with the bores of the guns and thus produce intense cones offire.

This general arrangement has heretofore been suggested, but as far as Iam aware such prior devices have required some power ,means for rotatingthe guns, a requirement which severely limits the, practical utility-ofthe device for combat purposes.

The present invention provides extremely simple means for deriving thenwessary power from the propelling charges fired in one or] more of theguns. To do this I provide ports through which parts of the powder gasesare discharged in directions approximately tangential .to the rotarypath of the guns. I prefer that the ports lead directly from the boresof the barrels near the muzzles, but they may lead from the gascylinders of as-o erated guns or from resuc be used, the checks in thelast named case being modified to vent the gases rearward and to oneside.

Another feature of the invention relates to means for producing asimultaneous angular adjustment of the guns, relatively to the axis ofrotation, so as to produce convergent, parallel or divergent fire atwill while the guns are being fired. I prefer to arrange the adjustingmechanism so that [while all the guns are parallel simultaneously, theywill simultaneously assume different degrees of divergence orconvergence, sothat each gun develops a cone of fire different from,though concentric with, the ,cones of the other guns.

,The invention may be used with various t pes of machine guns, but isillustrated in the accompanying drawings as a plied to the well knownLewis gun, for t e reason that this is a gas operated gun, and henceofi'ers an opportunity to illustrate how the ases may be taken from theactuating cylin- In the drawin Fig. 1 is a si e elevation of a three-gununit constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig.'

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal axial section of the rotatable carrier and itssupport.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line H of 1. a

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective vie showing the mechanism foradjusting the guns relativel to the axis of rotation.

Fig. 6 is a ragmentary perspective detail of certain parts shown in Fig.5.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the trigger actuator.

Fig. 8 is a detail of one type of recoil check which may be used tocause or assist in causing the desired rotary motion. 7

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the pre-, ferred arrangement of the gasports inthe barrels. I The entire unit is mounted for orientation on atrunnion 11, which is formed as an! integral part of a frame memberconsisting of a. horizontal arm 12 and an: offset support 13*. The arm12 is circular in cross section, and preferably is tapered and hol--low, as shown. The osition and form of the trunnion 11 depen in largemeasure, on the conditions under which the gun is to be used, and thedrawing'eis illustrated only.

The rotating mem r which carries the guns consists of a sleeve 14, whichhas, fixed in its opposite ends, the outer races 15 and 16 of twoannular ball bearings of the combined radial and thrust type Bearings ofthis type are common artic es of commerce, and hence need not bedescribed in detail. The inner race 17 of the rear bearing seats againsta shoulder on the arm 12, and the inner race 18 of the front bearing isclamped against another shoulder on the arm 12 by means of a cap nut 19(see Fig. 3). Any

other bearing structure, relatively friction-' 'one for each gun. Onthese the guns are pivoted. In the case of the Lewis gun, I use thestandard mounting yoke. The trunnions are shown at 20 'and the mountingyokes at 21.

The guns are shown in general outline only, as their construction isstandard and well understood. The barrels are shown at 22, the receiversat 23, the gas cylinders at 24, the triggers at and the recoil checks at26. These may be of special construction as hereinafter explained.

At the rear ends of the receivers 23, I attach, in lieu of the usualspade grips, butt members 27, each having a guide-lug 28. The guide-lugs28 are confined in slots 29 formed in a triangular yoke 30 which ismounted on'the sleeve 14 at the rear end thereof. Adjacent each slot 29is a corresponding rearwardly projecting bracket 31, and to the brackets31 are pivoted at 32 the bell-crank levers which are used to adjust theguns relatively to the axis of rotatable sleeve 14.

The arms 33 of the three bell-cranks have pin and slot connections 34with the lugs 28, and preferably are slightly unequal in effectivelength, so that for a given angular movement of the three arms, therewill be produced slightly unequal movements of the ugs 28, and hence ofthe corresponding guns. The other arms 35 of the three bellcranks areconnected by ball and socket bearings 36 with the outer race 37 of anannular ball bearing whose inner race is shown at 38. This bearing isalso of the combined radial and thrust type.

The inner race 38 is carried by a slide 39, which is guided in ways 40,and which is arranged to move forward and backward at the rear of thearm 12 above the support 13. Some means for adjusting the position ofthe slide 39 is desirable, and for purposes of illustration I show ahand-wheel 41, to which is fixed a pinion42 meshing with a rack 43formed on the slide 39. Various other mechanisms may be used, the oneshown being probably the simplest possible. The parts are so arrangedthat all the guns may be set parallel to the axis of sleeve 14simultaneously by a proper adjustment of the wheel 41, or may be causedto converge or diverge, the latter being the adjustment most commonlyused. When the arms 33 have difierent efi'ective lengths, the variousguns will simultaneously assume slightly different convergent anddivergent positions, so that each gun will trace a cone of firedifferent from that of the other guns. This produces a betterdistribution of fire than would be had if all the guns traced the samecone of fire. However, in any case where the latter result is desired,it can readily be secured by making the arms 33 of equal efi'ectivelengths.

To fire the guns simultaneously, I provide a stem-44; which islongitudinally slidable axially through arm 12, and which has at itsforward end a head 45. Rotatably mounted on stem 44, in position to been- The lugs 48 operate the 50 by which the entire group of guns isaimed.

To rotate the guns and their carrying sleeve, I provide the ports 51, inone or more, and preferably in all of the barrels. In addition to, or inlieu of these ports, I may use special recoil checks 26, shown in Fi s.1 and 8. These depart from the standar type in the provision of means todeflect the vented gases laterally. Such means ma take various forms,but as a, sim le expe ient I suggest the addition of de ecting vanes 53,which permit the modification oi existing checks.

As suggested, the ports 51 might be formed in the gas cylinders 24, butas these cylinders are connected directly with the barrels, there is nofunctional difference, except such advantage as arises from the use of asingle gas port in the barrel both to operate the action of the gun, andto produce the rotating efiort. A. possible position for such ports isindicated at 54 in Fig. 1.

Assuming that all the guns are in. the

ready to fire condition, and that the guns are properly aimed, all thatthe operator need do is to press the master trigger 49, which actingsimultaneously upon the triggers 25, of all the guns, puts them all intoaction. The powder gases discharged through the ports 51 willimmediately start the rotary movement of the guns, thus.distributingrthe fire of each gun in a circular path. While the guns are at rest, orwhile they are being fired, they may be angularly adjusted relatively tothe axis of sleeve 14 by rotating the wheel 41. The effect of theunequal links 33 is to adjust individual ns simultaneously for differentdegrees of ivergence or convergence so that the various guns cover thetarget efi'ectively.

While I show three uns, it is obvious that more or fewer might be used.I find the offset relation of the gun illustrated in Fig. 2 to beparticularly favorable in connection with Lewis guns, because it ermitsthe construction of a compact unit with ample clearness for the drummagazines, characteristic of this gun. It will be understood, however,that any known. t pe, of machine gun capable of being fed rom a box ordrum magazine may be mounted and rotated according to the presentinvention,

and that no limitation to gas operation of the machine gun per se isimplied. While inclusive term broad enough to cover the' varioussuggested and, other functionally similar expedients, when notspecifically limited.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination of a plurality of ma-" chine guns each having anindependent automatic action, said guns being mounted to rotate about acommon axis approximately parallel with their bores, and means forrotating said guns independently of said automatic action and actuatedby powder gases derived from the propelling charges fired in one or moreof said guns.

2. The combination of a plurality of machine guns each having anindependent automatic' action, said guns being mounted to rotate aboutan axis approximately parallel with their bores, and means for directinga portion of the owder gases from the propelling charges red in one ormore of said guns in a d rection or directions approximately tangent tothe rotary path of said guns.

3. The combination of a plurality of machin guns each having anindependent automatic action, said guns being mounted to rotate about anaxis approximately parallel with their bores, and means for diverting aportion of the powder gases generated by the propelling charges fired inone or more of said guns, from the bores thereof and for discharging itin a lateral direction or directions whereby rotation of the guns aboutsaid axis is'caused. a

4. The combination of a plurality of machine guns each having anindependent automatic action, said guns being mounted to rotate about anaxis approximatel f-p'arallel their boresapproximately parallel with theaxis of rotation thereof; an actuator mounted to rotate with saidcarrler and operatively connected with said guns, the parts being soconstructed and arranged that axial movement ofsald actuator varies theangular position of said guns; and means for adjusting said actuatoraxially while said oarrier rotates.

6. The combination of a rotatable carrier, a plurality of independentlyoperable machine guns pivotally mounted thereon, with their boresapproximately parallel with-the axis of rotation thereof; an actuatormounted to rotate with said carrier and'op'eratively connected with saidguns, theparts being so constructed and arranged that axial movement ofsaid actuator varies the angular position of said guns; means foradjusting said actuator axially while said carrier rotates; and, meansfor discharging powder gases from the barrels of said guns in lateraldirections, whereby are rotated. I

7. The combination of a rotatable support, a plurality of machine gunsmovably mounted on said support so as to be capable of adjustmentthereon to vary the angle of their bores relatively to the axis ofrota-, tion; means operated by propelling charges in the guns forrotating said guns about said axis; and means for adjusting said gunssimultaneously during rotary movement thereof.

8. The combination of a rotatable support; a plurality of machine gunsmovably mounted on said support so as to be capable of adjustmentthereon to vary the angle of their bores relatively to the axis ofrotation;

said carrier and guns means for rotating said guns about said,

axis; and means for adjusting said guns constructed and arranged in oneadjustment to position all the guns with their axes simultaneouslyparallel with their axis of rotation, and in other adjustments to seteach gun at a different angle with said axis from the correspondingangle of other guns.

9. The combination of a rotatable support; a plurality of machine gunsmovably mounted on saidsupport so as to be capable of adjustment"thereon to vary -the angle of their bores relatively to the axis ofrotation; means for rotating said guns about said axis; and meansfor'adjusting said guns including a plurality of unequal levers,

whereb each gun is ad'usted simultaneously with 0t are but at a di erentrate.

10. The combination of a rotatable suport; a plurality of machine gunshaving aterally projecting magazines, the guns being pivotally mountedon said sup ort in oifset relation whereby clearance or the magazines isafli'orded with the barrels of the guns close to the axis of rotation;means operable while said support is in rotation" and serving to varythe dispersion of fire by adjusting the guns relatively to said support;and means for rotating said guns biyl energy derived from the propellingc ar'ges red therein.

11. The combination of a.rotatable support; a plurality of machine gunshaving laterally projecting magazines, the guns adjusting the gunsrelatively to said supbeing pivotally mounted on said support in P 113;and means for rotating said guns by ofi'set relation whereby clearancefor the he blast of powder gases discharged from l0 magazines isafi'OIded with the barrels of the the barrels thereofa '5 guns close tothe axis of rotation; means In testimony w er f I have signed m operablewhile said support is in rotation name to this Specification Vandserving to vary the dispersion of fire by WILLIAM W. DODGE, JR;

